My finch is traumatized. What can I do?

Question

ZebraFinch_Gigabyte-Ac   Help!

The incident:
My male zebra finch has been traumatized by an escape from his cage followed by a chase from the house cat. It happened a couple of hours ago. Gigabyte, my finch, didn't "appear" to be badly injured. He lost a patch of feathers on his back (which must hurt or be very sore) and is now very still in his cage. He won't sing, and hasn't eaten or had any water. He's not socializing with his mate and just stays put on his perch looking a bit puffy. When I come by to talk to him -something he always enjoys and responds to-he just winces.  I think he may even be sitting on his perch a little lopsided too. I don't believe his wing is broken because I saw him fly from the floor of the cage to his perch, and then to another perch to get away from his mate pecking at his sore.

My questions: What can I do to help him out and hopefully make him feel better? Should I put anything on his new bald spot where the feathers are missing? (see picture) How do I distinguish the effect of trauma from the effect of discomfort? Is there anything in particular --physical or otherwise--I should be watching for? Do finches get over trauma? I'm not in a position where I can go to an avian vet, and so I want to be as helpful to him as I can... I would greatly appreciative for ANY advice you could help out with...

Answer
With something like this a vet wouldn't help. However, there is a few things you can do. It sounds like he is stressed and the fact he is puffed out and plucking his feathers (thus the bald spot). Move the cage into a quiet room and cover three sides of the cage with a blanket, make sure the temperature is around 30C (you can get heaters from the reptile section of pet stores), and use an eye dropper or a small syringe without a needle to feed him water (preferably something fortified with vitamins you can get vitamins you can add to water from ladygouldian.com). Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do about him not eating but being in a quiet room and with his mate should help. Sometimes calming music can help (like instrumental lullabies). You shouldn't have to worry about a vet unless the finch starts sleeping on the bottom of the cage. Also, the owner of the site I suggested is highly knowledgeable so don't hesitate to ask her questions on her products if you have any.
Other than that, there's little else you can do but cross your fingers and make sure the cat can't go anywhere cage ever again (my own finches are kept in a room that the cat isn't allowed in)